The newly-crowned Miss South Carolina receives $40,000 scholarship along with the sash and the crown during the finals of the contest at the historic Township Auditorium in Columbia.
- Jul 2, 2018
AceShowbiz - Davia Bunch from Spartanburg was crowned as Miss South Carolina 2018 on Saturday night, June 30 during the finals of the competition. The event took place at the historic Township Auditorium in Columbia. Davia also won both swimsuit and talent preliminaries, which made her the only double-preliminary winner in this year's pageant. For the talent competition, she performed ballet En Pointe to "Feel It Still".
Crowned by Miss South Carolina 2017 Suzi Roberts, Davia recieved $40,000 and was marked as the 82nd winner of the scholarship competition. The pageant's Vice President Chaz Elis was also present to help her put on her new sash.
After winning the title, Davia explained that it's her mother's death in January 2013 that motivates her to fight harder everyday. "I lost my mother to leukemia when I was only fifteen years old," she said. "And going through that was something I struggle with for a long time. It was an eight-year battle, it was one I grew up with. But now I can advocate for people with leukemia, lymphoma and other blood cancers. It's something that touches my heart and makes me fight harder every day."
Davia, 21, is a political science student at the University of South Carolina. She will take a gap year to do her duties as Miss South Carolina before returning again to the university to complete her degree. She is also set to compete again later at Miss America pageant on September 9. The event will be held in Atlantic City, New Jersey and will air live on ABC.
Meanwhile, Miss Greater Greer Sydney Ford was named the first runner-up, followed by second runner-up Miss Clemson Sydney Sill, third runner-up Miss River City Morgan Romano and fourth runner-up Miss Columbia Alexandra Badgett.
Miss South Carolina pageant gave out more than $165,000 in scholarship money while the contestants also raised more than $169,000 for the Children's Miracle Network in South Carolina.
